When Baltimore Police detectives chased Dwight Hawkins outside of a Belair-Edison liquor store in February, the encounter ended seconds later in a barrage of gunfire that left the 37-year-old dead.
On Thursday, Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced that he will not seek criminal charges against the two detectives who fired their weapons, concluding the shooting was legally justified.
The Baltimore Police Department detectives who fired their guns, Arthur Fuog and Omar Rodriguez, first saw Hawkins inside the Belair Discount Liquors around 6:15 p.m. on Feb. 24, according to a news release from the attorney general’s Independent Investigations Division.
When Hawkins left the store, three detectives with the Group Violence Unit followed him out and began to chase him as he ran away. Rodriguez and Fuog told Hawkins to stop, but he kept running and pulled out a handgun, officials said.
Investigators said when Hawkins got near Fuog, the detectives pulled out their weapons and fired at him.
A handgun was recovered near Hawkins, the news release said.
The detectives rendered aid, then Hawkins was transported to the hospital where he later died.
After the shooting, relatives who lived down the street at the 2800 block of Pelham Avenue released footage of the incident from their neighbor’s camera.
Latrice Hunter, one of Hawkins’ cousins, previously told The Banner that the family has lived on the block since 1999 and often went to the liquor store to buy snacks and drinks.
“We been around here since 1999. ... It’s our store,” Hunter said. “You might go in there ... just to stick your head in. That’s our store. ... This his family. This his block.”
Banner Reporter Darreonna Davis contributed to this article.
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